


Until the Sun Shines Again

by chanchi76



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Domestic Bliss, Gingerpilot Week, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:55:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25323493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chanchi76/pseuds/chanchi76
Summary: Poe Dameron's trying to keep it together. Everyday he grabs lunch from the restaurant then visits the house to feed the cat. Then he enters a highly secure office building to make sure his not-so-secret boyfriend doesn't waste away behind piles of paperwork.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Armitage Hux
Comments: 13
Kudos: 29
Collections: Gingerpilot Week 2020





	Until the Sun Shines Again

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Gingerpilot week 2020 for the AU (and I guess Domestic) day. 
> 
> This was a snapshot I had in mind of a sci-fi AU of sorts. I don't have any plans to take this any further right now. So if you like it, go ahead.

The world outside was dark. 

Well, not really that dark. Not in that psychological dark kind of way. There was nothing particularly frightening or memory charring happening right now. No, it was dark. The sun was dark. Literally. 

Some scientist was too aggressive with his experiments and accidentally caused the sun to go dark. It was still there. It wasn’t gone. But it wasn’t bright. It was a global problem, people were not getting the right vitamin D, crops were dying, animals were...you got the picture. 

Of course, all governments tried to dish out the appropriate punishments. And of course, they made the decision too rashly and jumped to conclusions. They imprisoned the scientist, the media playing him as a radical idealist with too much time and money on his hands. Crazy ideas, bad childhood, the same old story. He was a lunatic who wanted to see the world burn. 

Once they got their scapegoat in prison—with a potential execution date looming ahead—they got a global task force together to try and fix the situation. And that’s when they found out that all the scientists’ notes were destroyed in the blast that turned the sun dark. So they had a couple choices ahead of them: grab the brightest minds around the globe and find a solution, or get the original scientist on board to reverse the situation and then execute him later. There were a couple other choices, but those were the strongest two. 

For some reason, execution was always on the table. 

Poe took some time to lace up his boots, savoring the time as the fat orange cat weaved in between his arms, purring. Twice he had to redo his right lace, as the cat would come in too close and make his knot loose. She was lonely without her owner and despite her usual aggression towards him, set it aside to enjoy his company. 

He double checked the food and water bowl before he left. It had a good amount of food—not as much as he put in the first time. That was a mistake he wasn’t making again. Cleaning up cat puke was just as disgusting as cleaning up human puke. 

He gave the cat one last pat and squeezed out the door before she could follow.  
Fifteen minutes and he was entering the building and tapping into the elevator to the top floor. An abuse of power, he reminded himself as he pocketed his ID badge. But nobody seemed to care as long as he didn’t mess with the lab. He visited the building so often the workers thought he was on the project anyway. No harm, no foul. 

The top floor was originally for executives of the company, but it was repurposed to be a giant laboratory and offices for the scientists on the project. It was quiet as he padded his way through the carpeted hallways towards the suite at the end. This door was sealed shut, with both ID and password required to open the door. The extra security was added to ensure the lunatic wouldn’t escape to the outside world. 

It was a little over the top and highly unnecessary. Unnecessary because the scientist was able to override the system in two days of confinement. He put things back the way they were, of course. But Poe was bothered him by the way he seemed to be accepting the confinement. He was too calm about the entire affair. 

After swiping entry to the former office, he made his way to the lab in the back, ignoring the dust covered living space in the front. The lab was lit with a few fluorescent light bulbs, casting everything in a weird greenish glow. The scientist was at the counter, fiddling with some kind of algorithm on the computer. Poe went right up and wrapped his arms around his thin frame. 

“I told you not to do that. What if I was working on something dangerous?” The man snapped with little to no venom as he continued to fiddle with the program. 

“You aren’t wearing any safety gear.” He pointed out, playfully tugging on one of his lab coat sleeves. He thought he heard the man gnash his teeth together, but there wasn’t any indication he didn’t want him there. 

“Did you bring lunch?” He asked gruffly after a long silence. 

Poe snuggled closer to the man, stretching forward to plant a small kiss on his neck. “Of course.” 

“I’ll be done in a minute.” And indeed, he was tapping more rapidly on the computer, as if the thought of lunch spurned him on. “Go and set up or whatever you need to do.”

And that’s when Poe let go, leaving the man to his mission for a few more minutes of stress-inducing silence. 

Finn had made him the lunch, a simple quick meal of a couple sandwiches. The restaurant was taking off well. He had grudgingly accepted that Poe was going to visit Hux whenever he could. And he had grudgingly created the lunch as simple as possible so Hux could actually eat it. Poe didn’t really know what was in the sandwich other than the tomatoes and lettuce, but he figured Finn blended in as many nutrients in there as he could without jeopardizing the flavor. He didn’t even think the meat was...well...meat. 

He just finished up the tea Rey added when Hux finally stalked into the kitchen space. “Lights on or off?” He asked, finger over the light panel as the man pulled himself onto a barstool. Hux grumbled something incoherent so he turned them on, but set the dimmer so they barely illuminated the kitchen. 

“Don’t know what this is, but people seem to like it.” He placed a plate with a sandwich in front of him. “Restaurant is doing great. We’re all very surprised.” 

“He’s always had the eye for detail.” Hux said, lifting the bread and giving the sandwich a suspicious look. After a few moments of internal debate, his hunger finally won over and he took a bite. He didn’t comment, but Poe watched as he wolfed the rest down in record time. 

“How’s the research going?” He asked halfway through a mouthful of his own sandwich. He set the plate of extra sandwiches off to the side, easily accessible for Hux if he wanted them. It was amusing to see the thin fingers reach over and practically sweep one to his plate. 

“Difficult.” He said, sampling the tea with the same amount of suspicion as before. He wasn’t as pleased with it as he was with the sandwich, choosing to take small sips here and then whenever he needed it. Poe would have to ask Rey how to correctly prepare the stuff. She swore Hux would enjoy it. “The other scientists seem to think I can create the program in an instant. I told them the truth. I can make another ‘sun destroyer’ or whatever they want to call it, but creating something that could reignite the sun will take a lot longer. They’re under the impression I created that thing on purpose. It’s not like I was expecting to create a world-wide catastrophe with what I thought was an energy device.”

“You did make yourself unpopular in the trial.” Hux threw him a sour look. “Does your head hurt anymore?”

“If I turn off the lights in the lab it helps a smidge. I can’t seem to turn off the emergency lights.” Hux was complaining of migraines lately. Poe really couldn’t do anything about it except bring him medicine and these weird oils Finn swore helped him through his. Rey figured it was from lack of sleep and malnutrition—which was why Finn was experimenting with food in the first place. Poe’s job was to try and get him to sleep—and he did, for a couple of hours anyway, then he was up and back in the lab before he knew it. 

“Leia knows I’m here. She’s been ignoring all the security protocols.”

“How nice of her.” He didn’t bother to hide the sarcasm in his voice. “And I bet dear old Ben had something to do about that?”

“Really?” He asked, propping his head up with his elbow as he gave Hux his most disappointed glare. “Bringing up your ex?”

To his credit, Hux deigned not to answer and leveled him a similar glare.

“Ok, to be fair, you did say you guys never really hooked up.” He sighed, sipping his own tea and flinching. Oh, he really should ask Rey how to brew tea, that was disgusting. “But usually, when you talk about someone so much it usually means you two hooked up.”

“I don’t talk about him. I complain about his abhorrent work practices. It’s a disgrace.” 

“You see?” Poe wasn’t impressed. He made the mistake of sipping from the cup again and cringed at the bitterness. “Ok, I’m not really mad. Ben’s still in prison. Leia’s kinda keeping tabs on him. He’s probably up for probation in like...10 years.” 

“That’s where I prefer to be.” 

“Hugs, we talked about this.” Well, actually he talked about it. And he was fairly surprised the subject hadn’t come up in several months. “You’re the only one who remembers the original plans.”

“Yes, of an energy device. It was supposed to be a sustainable energy that can last for years. Powering cities and production plants. It was merely an accident when it harnessed all the sun’s energy and unintentionally created a military grade superweapon.” 

“You still aren’t making a great case for yourself.” Just like when he was arrested. Poor conversation skills was one of the things he really needed to work on. Honestly, he was lucky Poe was attracted to his straightforward personality and gullible nature when it came to jokes. 

“Look, when was the last time you slept?”

“Last night. I slept for 8.”

“Hours?” The bags under his eyes and his abnormal calmness said otherwise. He voiced his suspicion. “Seconds?”

“A power nap. It keeps my mind sharp.” 

Yeah, no. It was a good thing Poe was technically retired. He wasn’t paid enough to deal with this. This was babysitting, not enjoying time with his secret life partner. “I bet those minutes weren’t even consecutive.” No wonder Hux was tolerating him more than usual. He probably couldn’t see him clearly. Just one giant blur in the background. 

“Dameron, I am close to solving the problem. I could have it done by the end of the day.”

“Look, you need to sleep.” He should make a note to hide all the caffeinated products in the kitchen. He wondered how many Hux was ingesting on a daily basis. He didn’t want to get a doctor involved, but something told him the man was possibly days away from a heart attack if he didn’t stop. Also, Hux tended to go into manic mode at strange times. The last time that happened he managed to crack all the security codes in the building. 

Hux protested as he wrapped his arms around him and pulled him bodily from his stool. Poe was a lot stronger than he looked—and Hux was a lot lighter than he looked. The labcoat did wonders for his shape. 

“I’m getting you into the shower and then you’re going to sleep. You’ll work better that way. Trust me.”

“I could have one of my breakthroughs and I won’t be anywhere near to write it all down.” Hux fought him all the way to the bathroom. Poe shook off his slaps and scratches.

“There are recording devices all over this floor. Just say it out loud and we’ll look it up later.” 

“It’s not the same.” 

“Yeah. But it’ll have to do.” The fight seemed to be leaving the scientist as Poe stripped off the offending layers one by one. Hopefully it would be easier from here on out. He didn’t bring a change of clothes if Hux actually refused to get into the shower by himself.  
Hux was much more manageable after a heated shower. Poe had no difficulty pulling him to the makeshift bedroom (it was really the office with a couch near the window. Hux declined a bed when Poe offered. He was used to sleeping in chairs). 

“Only for an hour.” Hux said as Poe pulled him onto the couch. It took some maneuvering so both men were able to fit comfortably. Poe attributed it to him being drastically shorter and Hux being mostly bones. Even so, it was a tight fit. 

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll talk about your program when you wake up. You can tell me all about it, Hugs.” He pulled out his phone, immediately flipping through his photos to distract him. "I've been feeding Millie everyday. She's a brat, just like you. She stuck her claw in me when I got too close to her bowl." 

"She's got two." Hux said, his movements sluggish as he swiped past photos of Finn and Rey posing in front of their restaurant. "Switch them…"

His voice trailed off into indiscernible mumbles. Poe caught his hand as it fell, to avoid waking him if it hit the couch. It amused him how quickly the man passed out. A couple strokes of that soft hair and he was out like a light. He kind of wished it was always this easy. 

He turned his phone to silent and dropped it into his pocket. Then he wound his arms around his partner, holding him close as he savored the quiet moment.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I'm used to writing a lot of spicy scenes (or just straight up NSFW without the spicy depending on how you look at it), so this is a change for me.


End file.
